Crawfish are hard to come by in Louisiana so far this season, and producers say the fall's hot, dry weather is to blame. People are starting to notice since crawfish is a popular dish to serve around the holidays from Thanksgiving through Easter.
Read MoreLouisiana is the largest harvester of crawfish in the nation. There’s been a boiling uncertainty amongst some seafood businesses, as the state faces one of its driest seasons.
“The season will be a little shorter, so I’m going to encourage everyone when they’re available go ahead and get some,” said Mike Strain, Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture.
Read MoreThere is a boiling uncertainty in an area of Louisiana dubbed the “Crawfish Capital of the World.”
Farmers across the state are worried about this year’s crawfish crop, wondering if the “mudbugs” will emerge from their underground burrows, which can run three feet or more deep.
Read MoreI have already invited myself to multiple crawfish boils. I am ready for my lips to burn because I went too hard on the spicy crawfish. I am prepared for the best reason many of us live in Louisiana, crawfish season.
The temperatures plummeted and many of us had never seen temps so low in the Ark-La-Tex. We were so focused on our homes and businesses not having pipes burst that we forgot about temperatures ruining our crawfish season.
Read MoreSen. John Kennedy (R-La.) welcomed the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) decision to purchase $36 million of shrimp to help alleviate food insecurity. The USDA made the purchase under the Agriculture Act of 1935, which provides for national food assistance during emergencies.
Read MoreLouisiana produces 90% of the crawfish found in the United States. Most farmed crawfish come from rice fields in one 35-square-mile area near Welsh, Louisiana.
The industry is fairly new, only entering the mainstream in the 1980s as rice farmers began experimenting with cultivating crawfish in their fields.
Read MoreA truck carrying a load of alligator meat spilled all over the highway between Mud Avenue and Evangeline Thruway.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is purchasing up to USD 36 million (EUR 33 million) of wild shrimp from the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and the South Atlantic, U.S. Representative Garret Graves (R-Louisiana) announced in a press release.
The purchase is possible thanks to funds available under the USDA’s Section 32 Funds for Strengthening Markets, Income, and Supply, Graves’ office said.
Read MoreU.S. Representative Garret Graves (Louisiana) announced today that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is purchasing up to $36 million of Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic Wild-Caught Shrimp. This will alleviate pressure felt by Louisiana’s shrimp industry caused by natural disasters, higher fuel prices, labor and supply chain issues, and the effects of foreign governments flooding the market with illegally caught, foreign, farmed seafood. This purchase will also provide schools, food banks, and disaster-stricken households with another sustainable, nutritious source of protein.
Read MoreHave a summer of higher temperatures and a drought affected this year’s crawfish season?
“There’s nothing in that trap,” Devon Palomino of Lake Charles Crawfish said.
Each year Louisianians look forward to chowing down on some crawfish, but Palomino, a local farmer, said he is nervous for the season.
Read MoreThe Crawfish Hole, located in Carencro off of University Drive has been dishing out some of the best boiled crawfish since 2011. Well, they had a bit of a rough night recently, and how they handled it is just... well, you've gotta see it to truly understand it.
Over the weekend, things simply didn't go as smooth as they usually do over at the Crawfish Hole. The wait was long – like, over-an-hour long. That's not the usual Crawfish Hole vibe, so the folks running the place did something pretty risky.
Read MoreLouisiana’s abrupt transition this year from one of the wettest states to one of the driest has had crippling repercussions for its farms and forests.
The state’s agricultural and timber industries have suffered nearly $1.7 billion in losses from the long-running drought and recent bouts of record high temperatures, according to a new report from Louisiana State University researchers.
Read MoreDue to the lack of rain and colder weather moving in, crawfish companies are facing hardships. As of December, prices are around $11 per pound.
Read MoreMembers of the Louisiana Seafood Safety Task Force are searching for answers to not only improve the dying domestic seafood industry but also address health concerns coming from imports.
“You can become antibody resistant from eating imported shrimp and imported fish so our state should be able to do something in that way or even federally,” said Kimberly Chauvin. “I don’t even understand how we’re not protecting people.”
Read MoreOnly about 10% of seafood consumed in America is domestic. That’s crippling the Louisiana seafood industry. “For the last two years it’s just about ruined the industry,” Louisiana fisherman Pete Gerica said. In his 50 years on the water, Gerica has never seen it this bad.
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